Attorney General Matt Platkin said “states like New Jersey are ready to fight back” against plans by the incoming Trump administration to halt DACA recipients from enrolling in federally subsidized health care plans. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
New Jersey is among 14 states seeking to defend immigrants who entered the United States illegally as children in a federal case that aims to stop these immigrants from enrolling in health care plans on Affordable Care Act exchanges.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Wednesday filed a motion to intervene in the case, which challenges a Biden administration rule that allows Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients to purchase plans on the exchanges. A group of states led by Kansas are challenging the rule in a federal court in North Dakota.
Platkin argues that because the incoming Trump administration will likely not defend the case, it is up to him and 13 other Democratic-led states to do so.
“I have proudly led the fight for DACA for years, and now I’m proud to lead the effort ensuring that Dreamers have the same access to healthcare as everyone else,” Platkin said in a statement. “We know that President-elect Trump plans to undo protections and health care for our Dreamers, and states like New Jersey are ready to fight back.”
DACA was created in 2012 to protect certain people who came to the United States illegally as children from deportation. Under the program, people can live and work lawfully under two-year renewable periods. But DACA recipients — called “Dreamers” by the program’s supporters — have been barred from buying health insurance via the Affordable Care Act.
DACA recipients are three times more likely to be uninsured than the general public, and uninsured populations drive up health care costs overall, worsen public health, and lead to increased medical debt, according to New Jersey’s filing.
In New Jersey — home to more than 16,000 DACA recipients — the rule remains in effect. That means they can obtain health insurance through Get Covered NJ, the name of New Jersey’s marketplace.
States benefit from including DACA recipients in their exchanges, as larger and more diverse risk pools could lower premiums for everyone, the state argues.
Trump, who will be inaugurated Monday, has indicated he does not support allowing DACA recipients to enroll in Affordable Care Act plans.
Nationally, about 530,000 of an estimated 3.6 million people who were brought to America as children are protected under DACA.
“Undermining Dreamers’ access to healthcare not only hurts them and their American children, but it harms states like New Jersey too. We will never back down from fighting for our Dreamers, no matter who is in charge in Washington,” Platkin said.
In a statement, Gov. Phil Murphy expressed his support for the legal challenge.
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